The Bears bolted to an early eight-goal lead and never let up en
route to a 21-5 victory against Murrieta Mesa. The triumph came in
the opening game of the Riverside Invitational Boys Water Polo
Tournament.

“We played strong and had a good counter attack,” new Poly coach
Mike Cardey said. “We also showed some good speed. I think we’re
faster than anticipated.”

Poly (2-0) also won a night game in the tournament, 10-6 against
Claremont.

Murrieta Mesa (2-2) couldn’t solve Poly’s tough defense and had
no answer for its relentless offense.

Will Weggland led the Bears with five goals and Jake Knell had
four. Also contributing for Poly were Jake Knell with four goals,
Jake Pope and Nolyn Wild with three goals each and Jonah Sanez and
Harry Otto with two apiece.

“We’re getting our feet wet with this tournament for some of the
teams we’re going to have to face in league like Murrieta Valley,
Vista Murrieta and Chaparral,” said new Rams coach Alex Sweeney,
who missed the game to attend a class.

Said animated assistant Ram coach Kenny Klotz who was at the
game: “We didn’t play that hot. “(Poly) is better than us, but we
should have played better than we did.”

There are 44 teams in the 45th annual tournament that is being
held at Corona Santiago, Corona, Riverside King, Eastvale
Roosevelt, Riverside Arlington, RCC and Riverside’s Sippy Woodhead
Pool.

Standout Inland teams include Beaumont, King and Poly. Teams to
watch from out of the area include Montebello, La Verne Damien, El
Segundo, Fullerton Troy and Santa Maria Righetti.

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